The Desolate Mansion (One-shot)
by Maybe a Lurker
Summary: An unexpected encounter on Hallow's Eve
1. The Desolate Mansion

On a chilly autumn in late noon, Oliver was walking home contemplating the situation he had got himself into. He and his group of friends decided to turn trick-or-treating into a competition by having the person with the lowest amount of candy spend the night at an abandoned haunted mansion. Oliver was the tiebreaker since Len and Ryuto wanted to take the wager, but Piko and Moke did not. On a whim, Oliver had agreed to play. They had all decided to meet up at Ryuto's house before the competition started at 7 pm, which would last until 8 pm.

Once Oliver arrived back home, he realized that he did not even have a costume nor did he have money to buy one. He searched through his closet in an attempt to find something that could pass as a costume and eventually found his old choir outfit – a long navy blue coat with a yellow ribbon around the collar, a white button up shirt, black shorts, brown boots that reached the knees, and a sailor cap. He tried on the clothes and was half relieved to see that it still fitted him; he was also disappointed because this meant that he had not grown much this past year. The boots were a little snug, but he figured they were probably tight since he had not worn them in a while.

A couple of hours later, Oliver made his way towards Ryuto's house. He glanced at his watch as he approached the doorsteps. The time was currently 6:30, which was quite early so he figured that not everyone had arrived yet. He rang the doorbell, to which Ryuto answered, "Oh, you're finally here. I guess we're all here now since everyone else arrived early. Come in."

Oliver stared at the sight in front of him – Ryuto was wearing his green grade school outfit with some futuristic touches added to it. The green boy gestered to the blonde to follow him into the living room. Oliver chuckled a bit to himself at the thought of how Ryuto had not grown at all since his elementary school days. Ryuto noticed this and huffed, "Hey, it's not like you've grown either!"

As the two arrived in the living room, the others were playing board games to pass the time until the event. Oliver noticed that pretty much everyone in the group had very uncreative costumes except for Piko, who wore: silver headphones with teal lights, a long, metallic white shirt with black sleeves, black tights, black and white striped boots, and a long USB cord sticking out like a tail. Len's "costume" was a black and white sailor uniform with a yellow tie from his previous school, but with added futuristic modifications much like Ryuto's. Moke didn't even bother changing out of his regular clothes. Clearly, nobody except for Piko had planned on going trick-or-treating before today's discussion.

"What? You're wearing your choir outfit? That's so unoriginal, Oliver," Len blurted as Oliver walked into the room.

"Speak for yourself, Mr. Lazy. All you did was super glue some stuff onto your old uniform," Oliver retorted in reply.

"Don't worry about Len, he's been calling everyone's costumes lazy except to Piko," Moke said without even looking up from the board game.

During the down time, the boys played games and engaged in idle chatter. The atmosphere seemed so relaxed despite what was on the line. Even so, Oliver could not help but feel something creep into his fears.

About 5 minutes before the competition was scheduled to start, Ryuto instructed that they should all wait outside so that they can start smoothly. Everyone exited Ryuto's house and stood on the lawn and waited anxiously for the signal to start. Every moment that passed was tense and it felt like eternity in just those 5 minutes. At the tick of the clock striking 7:00, the game began and everyone split up into different directions.

Oliver ran around from door to door, but had the unfortunate luck of most people not answering. He decided to run to a different neighborhood in hopes that there would be more residents willing to hand out candy. As Oliver ran for longer durations, his feet felt more and more uncomfortable due to the snugness of his boots. However, he tried not to slow down since he felt that he was behind on the collection. For the rest of the hour, he glanced at his watch every so often and collected candy at a decent rate, but was still unable to shrug off the feeling of discomfort and unease in his mind. When the hour came close to an end, he made his way back to Ryuto's house to meet up again with everyone else.

It was no surprise that everyone made it back in time before 8:00, so no one was disqualified. The group's attention quickly turned towards Moke, who had 4 full bags of candy.

"That can't be possible...how did you get so much in such a short amount of time?" Piko stared at the candy suspiciously.

"I didn't. I paid some group of children to give me all their candy," Moke answered.

"That's cheating! You should be disqualified!" Len shouted angrily. He hated it whenever he didn't win.

"Technically, there was no rule against buying candy so I didn't cheat. You guys shouldn't have made such an oversight," Moke said and stared blankly at Len, who looked like he was about to burst into a rage.

"Well, Moke is right that he didn't cheat," Ryuto confirmed before Len was able to yell like a madman. "Let's just not count his candies since it's obvious he has the most. Now, let's see what you guys got."

Ryuto counted each person's candy bag one at a time while everyone followed along so as to not have any claims about it being rigged. Oliver's bag was last and so far, the order of highest to lowest was: Moke, Piko, Ryuto, Len. This last bag determined whether it was Len or Oliver that had to go, so both boys watched closely as Ryuto counted out loud. Once the last piece of candy was pulled out of the bag and no more were to be found, Len sighed in relief – Oliver had one less candy than Len. Oliver himself was unsure of how to feel and could only remain silent.

"Don't worry, since we're so nice we'll even walk you to the forest!" Len grinned mockingly and patted Oliver's shoulder.

When the group of boys made it to the outskirts of town, they bade Oliver farewell and wished him a safe night. Before leaving, Ryuto handed Oliver a camera to take pictures of the abandoned mansion. "Don't lose it or else you'll pay for it, assuming that you do come back alive," Ryuto said and walked away.

Oliver stood at the edge of the forest and waved good-bye until his friends were out of sight. Once he was alone, he turned around to face the ominous forest and slowly walked into the darkness, with only the moonlight guiding him. He had never been to the forest before, but it felt oddly familiar. He trodded ahead with caution, fearing the unknown.

The main road in the forest was at first smooth and straightforward, but became more rough and difficult to follow. It was apparent that the deeper parts of the forest were not maintained at all, with dead trees laying about and irregular branches sprawling around. With every step taken, Oliver could hear his own footsteps loudly and clearly against the dried leaves as the forest was surely devoid of sounds and life. Once or twice, he had heard an owl hoot but otherwise, the forest was in complete silence.

As Oliver went deeper into the forest, the moonlight became dimmer since the fog was thicker, which made it harder to see. He proceeded through the inconspicuous path with extra care, but soon got his boots stuck in a thick puddle of mud. With some difficulty, he was able to remove himself from the mud; however, the heel of one of his boots broke, leaving a hole. Oliver decided leave behind his boots since they were uncomfortable and worn-out. He soon found it was easier and quieter to walk barefooted – his feet no longer felt cramped and the dead leaves did not crackle as loudly as before.

After a short distance, Oliver arrived at a forest clearing, and in front of him was the rumored abandoned haunted mansion. He hesitated on approaching the decrepit manor and looked around for anything unusual. The ambiance around the mansion was dark, foreboding, and uncanny. Nevertheless, he mustered up the courage to press forward to open the seemingly heavy wooden door. Surprisingly, the door opened with little forced applied, and Oliver found himself in the lobby of the mansion.

When Oliver stepped away from the door, the wind picked up and slammed it shut behind him. He tried to open the door again, but it was sealed tight, which he thought was definitely unusual since the door was not locked before. He attempted to calm down and planned what he should do next. Oliver decided that the first thing to do was to look for a light source since he could barely see even a meter ahead. He fumbled around in the darkness with one hand on the wall and found a light switch. To his surprise, it worked and the lights in the lobby turned on. He was definitely astonished and wary that the electricity would work in a mansion that had been abandoned for at least a century.

Once the lights were on, Oliver noticed that his right knee and left ankle were bleeding. He had not felt any pain earlier, but assumed the wounds were from his struggles in the forest. His next goal was to find something to cover up his wounds to avoid getting infected.

Oliver opened up the door at the end of the lobby and walked into what looked like a lounge. He pulled out the camera and took a picture, and continued to do so for every room he visited. Other than the apparent decay, the room looked completely untouched – as if the inhabitants of the mansion just left without packing their belongings. The intact furniture, tea cups on the coffee table, a chess board that looked abandoned mid game, and various other objects lying about made it seem like people were around not too long ago.

At the other end of the lounge was a large painting of a family of three that stood in front of a beautiful mansion surrounded by a vibrant forest. The family's clothes looked similar to the ones wealthy people wore in the 1800s. The parents' faces were completely covered in dust, but the child's face was able to be seen with some strain: the boy looked about 7 years old and had bright red hair and eyes. Oliver wondered what could have possibly had happen to this family to make them leave their home. He had a strange feeling he had seen the boy before. He decided not to ponder too long though, since he still needed to treat his injuries.

Oliver went through an entryway into a long corridor that had many doors. He tried one of the doors, and to his luck, was a bathroom that contained some first aid supplies in a cabinet. He wiped off the blood and wrapped some bandages around his ankle and knee. Next, he removed his eye patch and covered his left eye with bandages as well since the eye patch seemed to fall off any moment. When Oliver was about to leave, he heard a cracking sound. He turned around and saw that there was a crack on the mirror, which was surely not there before. He figured his nervousness was playing tricks on his mind and moved on.

When Oliver opened the bathroom door, he saw that the ambience of the hallway became much more eerie – the deterioration was more apparent, the corridor seemed to stretch longer, and the lights were dimmer. He thought it was best to slowly open the doors to the rooms and only enter ones that seemed safe.

While he contemplated which door to try next, he saw from the corner of his eye that a white figure moved about. It looked like a small humanoid doll with only dots for eyes and strange fish shaped lips. Oliver didn't have much time to ponder about how a doll can move on its own, since it rapidly darted towards one of the doors down the corridor as paint dripped after it. Without thinking about how dangerous the situation could be, he followed the trail of paint and saw that it entered a dimly lit room full of paintings.

Oliver entered the room but could no longer find the tiny creature, so he glanced at the paintings and quickly discovered that they were all of the same boy he saw in the painting from the lounge. The portraits showed the boy from various stages of his life, which ranged from infant to early teens, and were arranged in chronological order that lead down the room. In some of the paintings, the boy held the white doll that was walking around just moments ago. The atmosphere in the depictions progressively became more dismal. Once Oliver reached the last portrait, the boy smiled with a forlorn look in his eyes, which left an unsettling feeling. He tried to look away from the painting and then noticed right below it, "Welcome back Oliver" was written in fresh paint.

"W-what...?" Oliver stuttered in shock.

"My, my...I wasn't expecting a visitor," said a soft raspy voice in a playful tone.

"W-who's there?" Oliver stuttered and turned around, but no one was there. He wanted to convince himself that he was imagining things.

"It's been a long time since I've had a guest," the voice whispered into Oliver's ear. "And what a lovely guest you are!"

Oliver glanced over his shoulder, but saw no one behind him again. The message below the portrait disappeared, and he tried to convince himself that this was all just a prank.

When Oliver turned his head forward again, he met the gaze of a strange boy who oddly resembled the one in the portraits. The differences, however, were that this boy had pasty white skin that was deformed all over the left side of his body, a solid red left eye, and a big red X on the bridge of his nose. He looked no more than two years older than Oliver. The red haired boy wore a red and white top hat with eyes, a long white coat with texture on the left side similar to his face, a red ribbon tied around his coat's high collar, black trousers, and red and white boots.

"Hello, dear visitor." The mysterious boy smiled mischievously and stretched out his hand towards Oliver for a handshake. "My name is Fukase, and welcome to my home~"

Although Fukase seemed friendly, Oliver couldn't help but stare in fear and surprise as if he had seen an apparition. He had difficulty processing what was going on since the mansion was supposed to be abandoned. Oliver still had doubts about whether or not anything he saw in the mansion was real. After a pause, he managed to mutter, "...Hello." He feebly shook hands with the red haired boy. Fukase's hand was so freezing cold that Oliver felt his own body temperature drop significantly.

"Since you're my guest, Oliver, I insist that you join me for some tea," Fukase cheerfully said as he loosened his grip in the handshake. "Follow me~"

Oliver silently followed Fukase as the older male led the way. He kept a distance from Fukase and thought about running away, but decided against it – he was curious about the supposed resident of the mansion and had many questions. While they made their way through the hallways, the lights turned on without anyone touching the light switches. The blonde boy was no longer fazed by such things anymore, and believed that he was indeed dreaming.

They soon reached a garden and seated themselves at a table on the patio. Lanterns hung overhead and brightened the patio while the moon and stars illuminated the night sky, making parts of the garden somewhat visible at a distance. Tea sets and a pot of hot tea were already on the table, as if it was all prepared just moments before the two arrived. A small white being then appeared, and carried a tray of sweets to the table. It was the tiny doll-like creature Oliver saw earlier, and he was amazed to see it was able to carry something much larger than itself.

"What is that creature anyways?" Oliver asked and stared at it in awe as it poured tea into their teacups.

"Oh, this little fellow?" Fukase picked up the creature and placed it on his shoulder. "His name is Point. He's..." He paused for a moment to think. "...a pet. More or less."

That didn't really answer Oliver's question and Fukase seemed uncertain, so he tried a different topic. "How long have you been living in this place?"

Fukase tilted his head and responded, "Honestly, I have no idea either~! But I can say that it's been a very long time since anyone has visited me."

Oliver sighed to himself as none of his questions were being answered. The boy in front of him was mysterious and hard to read.

Fukase took a sip of tea and continued, "So now it's my turn to ask some questions. What brings you here to my home? Not that I mind, of course. Hehe~"

Oliver hesitated on whether or not he should tell Fukase the truth that there were rumors about how his mansion is abandoned and haunted. "...I was just curious about this place, that's all. I'm sorry if I've trespassed," Oliver answered sheepishly. He felt somewhat guilty about this lie, but he didn't want to upset Fukase. Gradually, he became less suspicious of the redhead and felt more at ease around him.

"It's no problem at all. I'm glad to have you here as my guest. Feel free to make yourself comfortable here," Fukase smiled warmly at the blonde.

Once they finished the snacks and tea, Fukase showed Oliver the rest of the garden. Unlike the rest of the mansion, the garden seemed to be well kept and showed almost no signs of decay. There were many types of plants and great varieties of flowers, most of which were red roses.

When Oliver took out the camera and was about to ask to take pictures of the garden, Fukase stared at it with great curiosity and asked, "What a peculiar device! I've never seen anything quite like it before. What does it do?"

Oliver chuckled at how Fukase was just like an eager little child and how his threatening and monstrous appearance clashed with his behavior.

"Hehe...you've finally smiled. Now isn't that cute~?"

Fukase's remark caught Oliver completely off guard, which caused the blonde to blush wildly. He was so glad that the garden wasn't well lit. Once he regained his composure, he explained to the older boy how cameras worked what they were used for.

After the explanation, Fukase guided Oliver to different parts of the mansion so that they could take pictures of various rooms; the whole mansion seemed to have been a lot less dilapidated now. Oliver let Fukase try the camera himself, which he was delighted to do so. Soon, the two were tired from running around and wanted to rest, so they went into the library.

The mansion's library was immense and had extensive collections of books from almost every subject. Oliver was quite impressed since it was much larger than any library he had ever been to. Although Oliver enjoyed reading, he wanted to continue to try to find out more about Fukase. He no longer suspected Fukase to have malicious intent, but he felt that the redhead was either purposely not telling him something important or was truly clueless.

As if Fukase had read the blonde's mind, he smiled sweetly and said "You look like you have some questions. No need to hesitate~"

"Um...about those paintings I saw earlier..." Oliver wasn't quite sure how to begin. "The boy in them looked just like you, and Point was in some of them too. Who painted them anyways?"

"Eh, no clue. I'm guessing that they were from a past life," Fukase answered with genuine uncertainty and his smile faded. "I don't have any memories from before I woke up in this mansion, so I really only know as much as you do in regards to my past."

Oliver thought carefully about how he should word his next question. This question had escaped him for quite a while, and it had bothered him since he met Fukase. "Why was my name written in paint below one of the paintings? And how did you know that was my name?"

Fukase had a wistful look in his eyes, but continued to smile. He seemed to have dodged the question and started to reminisce, "Long ago, I had an adorable guest. He was afraid of my appearance when we first met, but he enjoyed my company. I was quite fond of him, but I never expected him to return..." The redhead paused for a moment, looked Oliver straight in the eye, and then continued, "He ended up giving me an unexpected visit, but to my dismay he didn't remember me at all."

Although Oliver had a strong feeling he knew the answer, he had to confirm, "What was his name...?"

Fukase smiled brightly and answered, "Oliver. His name was Oliver." He pulled the smaller boy into a gentle embrace and whispered into his ear, "Welcome back, Oliver. I've missed you."

Oliver hugged the other male back and felt his warmth to be comforting. There was a long moment of silence before either of them spoke again. They both wanted the enjoy this blissful time longer.

Oliver was the first to break the silence, "I'm sorry that I didn't remember you...I still don't, but I'm glad I was able to make new memories with you."

Fukase chuckled and kissed the younger male on the forehead. "I'm just happy that you're here again," he said as he stroked the blonde's hair.

The two of them remained in an embrace for an extended duration. Oliver soon tired out from exhaustion and drifted off into sleep, with his head rested against Fukase's shoulder.

* * *

The next morning, Oliver awoke to rays of sunlight shining on his face. He yawned and then came into a panicked realization that he was in his own room again. He pulled away his blanket and saw he was changed into his pajamas. Overwhelming feelings of anguish filled the boy's mind as he wondered whether or not his encounters from last night were just a dream. He had become so fond of Fukase that it was cruel for him to just disappear.

When he got out of bed, he saw that the bandages on his ankle were still present. His eye widened in hope as he darted towards his choir coat and checked the camera in his pocket. The pictures of the mansion were still there, albeit, a bit differently from what he remembered.

Oliver didn't care that he had school today – he was determined to go back to the mansion to confirm if Fukase truly existed or not. He quickly changed into comfortable clothes and made a beeline towards the forest.

Without hesitation, Oliver ran down the familiar path that led to the isolated mansion. Perhaps it was the sunlight or the time of the day, but he felt that the forest was no longer treacherous and threatening. With very little obstacles, he shortly arrived at the same forest clearing. However, the mansion was no longer in sight.

Filled with distress and sorrow, Oliver felt tears form from his eye as he gazed at the empty lot. He murmured dejectedly, "Fukase..."

"Looking for me?~" a familiar voice said teasingly.

Oliver stopped crying to look around for the source of the voice. No one was around, however.

"Hehe, you have to be quicker than that." Fukase smiled mischievously and appeared behind Oliver. When the blonde turned around, Fukase gently grabbed him by the shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Welcome back, Oliver~" Fukase grinned slyly.

"I'm back, Fukase!" Oliver said cheerfully with a deep red blush on his face.

 **The End**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! This was my first fanfiction, so I know it's not very good. I'll definitely try to improve, so feedback will be very helpful.**

 **This story also felt a bit rushed since I tried to get it out in time before Halloween. I ran out of time so I couldn't stick to my original idea. If I had followed my original plan and had more time, this story would have been much darker and have multiple endings. If there's enough interest, I could try to rewrite it with what I had in mind.**


	2. Extra: A Memory

This takes place in between Oliver's two visits.

* * *

There were many times Fukase wished he had actually lost his memories of his lonesome past. From his birth to the present, he had no friends and was never allowed to leave the mansion. In the past, his parents, for unknown reasons, constantly forbade him from going outside; in the present, a magical force prevented him from leaving. The mansion was the only world Fukase knew, and his parents were his only human interaction. Although his parents were affable, he felt that they never loved him since they always kept him locked in his home.

Fukase's only company was a strange white plush doll that his parents gave him for his birthday which they said was magical. The doll, which later revealed itself to be Point, was indeed enchanted as it saved the boy from a house fire and restored the mansion. However, despite Point's magic, the left side of the boy's face was still disfigured from the fire. Fukase woke up centuries after the incident and found himself in the unusual predicament he was in. He spent many repetitive, solitary years in the mansion until something interesting finally happened.

Recently, a young blonde boy named Oliver had stopped by the mansion. He was a very energetic child with a bright, cheerful personality. Despite the child's initial trepidation towards Fukase, he quickly warmed up to the redhead.

During his visit, Oliver sparked Fukase's curiosity and gave him the human contact that he had very much lacked. There had been a small number of visitors prior to the little blonde, but none intrigued Fukase nearly as much as he did. The child was constantly full of positive energy that even the decaying, lifeless mansion seemed vibrant and cheerful. Oliver's stay was short-lived, but it had brought joy to Fukase's otherwise dull time in the mansion.

Fukase continued to dwell in his thoughts and wondered if Oliver would keep his promise of returning for another visit. He had his doubts, and rightfully so, since the other guests never came back; they always lost their memories of Fukase as soon as they left the premises. Fukase always felt lonely and bored, but he was also great at masking his true emotions. However, at that moment, he felt weak and had difficulty not showing his dejection from the emptiness he felt due to Oliver's departure.

"Hey, kiddo! What 'cha thinking about?" Point climbed on Fukase's shoulder and broke his train of thoughts before it went any darker. "It's very unusual for you to be down in the dumps. Is something bothering you?"

"...Will I ever see Oliver again?" Fukase asked even though he already knew how Point would answer.

"Only time will tell, and you've got all eternity anyways since you know...you never age as long as this mansion is still here."

"I never asked to have 'all eternity' and this 'home' of mine feels like a prison. It always has." Fukase frowned and said the last part with a hint of frustration. "I wish to leave this forsaken place."

"I know you wanna leave, and I'm sure you will someday," Point tried to reassure Fukase. He paused a moment before he continued to remind the boy of the situation. "Lad, I'm sure I mentioned that the world beyond the mansion doesn't exist unless someone from the outside remembers you."

Fukase only remained silent and gazed into the endless darkness beyond the windows. He despised the convoluted conditions he must work with, but never openly complained.

"I know for sure that Oliver will return, so no worries!"

There was still no response from Fukase.

"If the past is still bothering ya-"

"Past? What past?" Fukase abruptly interrupted. "I believe you are mistaken, my dear friend, as I have no prior memories to when I first woke up here." He said coldly, but attempted to cover it with a smile. Fukase always detested thinking about his past and feigned ignorance whenever asked about it. His acting was so keen that even Point was sometimes deceived.

"Ah, alright. Sorry 'bout that." Point was taken aback by Fukase's sudden passive aggressive tone, so he dropped the conversation and just patted the boy's head to ease his discomfort.

"I highly doubt that Oliver will return. No one ever does," Fukase mumbled inaudibly.

"Did ya say something?" Point looked up expectantly.

"I'm quite bored of waiting here. Don't wake me up until someone interesting visits."

"Good night then, laddie." Point nodded and did nothing to convince the boy otherwise.

Fukase retired to his room and wondered whether or not he would ever wake up again. Sleep was not a necessity for him, but he did so often to pass away the time since there was never anything interesting to do. Even though Fukase was unsure of who the next guest would be, he discreetly hoped it would be Oliver. And so, he slept for an indeterminate amount of time, with an uncertainty of ever seeing the outside world.

* * *

Sorry if there are any inconsistencies with the main story. I rewrote this two times and lost motivation halfway through, but I felt that I had to write this to tie up some loose ends.


End file.
